


Lost in the Woods

by aravenwood



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Gen, Hurt Prompto Argentum
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-04
Updated: 2018-03-04
Packaged: 2019-03-27 01:40:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,857
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13870380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aravenwood/pseuds/aravenwood
Summary: Killer bees and a concussion leave Prompto lost and alone.





	Lost in the Woods

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, so yet more Prompto whump...I have no regrets. Also, a big thanks to water_4_willows (the-wandering-whumper) for helping me out with the ending! 
> 
> Enjoy, guys!

Prompto was pretty sure his head wasn't supposed to feel like this; fuzzy and thick as if someone had clobbered him repeatedly over the head with Gladio's greatsword. Hell, maybe they had, he didn't have much memory from before. He remembered waking up that morning with the guys around him; Noct curled up against his side and stealing all of the heat from his body, Gladio's hard stomach under his head like the world's most protective pillow and even Ignis having an involuntary lie in with one hand twisted in Prompto's hair while the other rested across his chest. None of them ever intended to sleep that close but the weather had turned dull a few weeks ago and their sleeping bodies had twisted together since.

 

But after that…it was all a blur until suddenly he was walking on his own, not quite sure why or where but too afraid to go anywhere but straight. There was a sickly sensation at the bottom of his stomach which pushed him to go, go and keep going until he knew it was time to stop. He trusted that enough - well, he didn't trust it but there was nothing else to go on and even taking a break felt like a bad idea. So he just walked.

 

The others weren't with him. They were always with him, always without fail. It was almost irritating sometimes - when he just wanted a few hours to himself to deal with everything that needed to be dealt with so that he could get back on track - but then they would always do something like praise his photographs or cook his favourite meal or give him a piggyback ride when his legs were sore. As it stood, he'd hoped he would never be separated from them, and now that he was his nerves were flaring up. His teeth were gritted so as to stop himself from chewing on his lip; his gun was clutched in one hand while the other moved between pawing at his neck and digging his fingernails hard into his palm; his legs were weak and a little shaky. Despite that he kept walking, couldn't stop even if he wanted to. It was like his legs had developed a mind of their own and he was a little creeped out by that.

 

It was late evening now, only an hour from nightfall when the daemons would come out and make life hell for him. Like it wasn't already hell walking with no idea why. His head was thumping. He couldn't deal with daemons like this, not when he was shaking with the effort of staying upright. Seriously, what had happened?

 

Maybe the guys would tell him when he found them. If he found them and they hadn't decided to abandon him.

 

"H-hey guys?" he called as the twisting in his stomach suddenly got worse. He felt sick, he felt shaky and more than that he felt all alone. There was no way he could survive this.

 

But what kind of Crownsguard would he be if he just gave up, though? The kind that got left in the wilderness once and so curled up and allowed himself to be killed? No, Cor didn't train him so he could become a coward - Cor trained him so that he could protect the king at all costs, even his own life. He couldn't do that if he was stuck here in the middle of nowhere, could he? He had to get back to the guys. He had to get back to his king.

 

With that little pep talk over, for a few minutes his energy was renewed. He pushed himself to reach the next tree, then the next one, then the next one. That was all he had to do, he kept telling himself - reach the next tree and you can take a break. But there was never a break. He couldn't stop with the sun so close to setting, not if he wanted to survive to see it rise again the next morning. It was a nice mantra to have, though, and it kept him going even when all he wanted to do was give in.

 

Soon he was in darkness, and he was no closer to wherever he needed to be. His legs were on fire by this point, knees buckling every few steps. Every time he fell, it took longer to recover, longer to stand up and continue his trek. The final time it happened, it was right onto his face. He tried to catch himself with his arms but one wrist buckled beneath him, sending him into a nosedive into the mud. A second later came the pain; the harsh, excruciating pain that had him choking around a scream. His teeth sunk into his lower lip and he bit down hard, drawing blood but muffling any noises that tried to escape. His wrist was on fire trapped beneath his bodyweight but he couldn’t make himself roll away and take the pressure off. He couldn’t make himself do anything except sob silently into the dirt, soaking it with his tears. He’d get killed like this, a voice in his head offered. He had to get up. He had to keep moving.

 

Breathing through his teeth, he tried to use his elbows to push himself upright but they slid on the loose dirt and down he came right back onto his wrist. This time he couldn’t keep quiet. Without meaning to, he screamed.

 

“Noct, it would be best if we set up camp for the night and continue the search in the morning,” Ignis offered softly as they trudged through the forest with their weapons at the ready. It was night now, it had been for a while, and the daemons were on the prowl. They’d already run into a few and wasted most of their potions, potions that he feared Prompto would need when they found him. If they found him.

 

Noct’s only response was a growl. It wasn’t difficult to translate – they weren’t stopping until they found Prompto, even if it meant killing a hundred daemons standing in their way. Ignis sighed but didn’t argue no matter how much he wanted to. He did, however, exchange silent words with Gladio, warning the bigger man to be on his guard. They really were being stupid staying out at night. He cared for Prompto as much as the other two, but he also understood that they could only help him if they were in good health themselves and hadn’t used up all of the potions they had while fighting to get to him. And if Ignis was remembering correctly – which he knew he was – then the young man would need those potions. Maybe even more so now than then.

 

 When they’d last seen him, he had blood all down one side of his face from a bad head wound which left him struggling to remain upright. On top of that, they’d been attacked by a swarm of killer bees who’d inflicted a dazed Prompto with confusion almost immediately and sent him staggering deeper into the forest. That had been several hours ago now. They would have followed sooner but then Noct had been stung almost as much as Prompto had, but rather than scampering like the blond, he’d stayed and fought persistently until Gladio could get close enough with smelling salts to bring him out of it. Everyone had sustained some bad wounds in the meantime – stab wounds, burns, even a crossbow bolt to Gladio’s shoulder from the auto crossbow that Prompto normally favoured – and there weren’t enough potions in the armiger for all of them, so it had been a long trek back to the Regalia for more. A waste of time, Noct had called it even as he leaned heavily on Gladio with one hand permanently clutching his aching head. And admittedly when they’d all recovered, Ignis did feel a little guilty for leaving Prompto lost and alone in the woods but at the same time he knew it had been necessary.

 

Out of nowhere came a hideous scream that had Ignis instinctively dragging Noct back behind him while Gladio raised his greatsword, ready to defend them from whatever had caused that noise. It went on for a few seconds before breaking off, but by that point Ignis’s skin had already drained of any colour.

 

That wasn’t a daemon making that noise – it was a human.

 

“Gladio,” he started but the bigger man interrupted him with a glare.

 

“I know.” Gladio grimaced. “Sounds like he’s hurt bad. We should go.”

 

“We don’t know that it’s him. We should proceed with caution. It could be a trap by the Empire for all we know -.”

 

“Not their style. It’s him alright.”

 

“Gladio, we must think of Noct. What if it is a trap?”

 

“And what if it’s not?” Noct interrupted, eyes glowing dangerously. “Prompto needs us, even more than he did already if he’s making noises like that. We’re not leaving him to the daemons, alright?”

 

Ignis rubbed at his eyes with one gloved hand. “We aren’t leaving him, Noct. We wouldn’t do that, I hoped that you knew me better than that. I’m simply advising that we go slowly and secure the area in the process of getting to him. And then we deal with whatever is ailing him,” he explained, barely keeping the irritation out of his voice. Did Noct really think that he would do that – just leave Prompto out here to die?

 

The prince just nodded quickly, seemingly aware of the fact that every second they spent arguing was another second Prompto was in danger. “Fine, whatever. Let’s just go.” And he took off running in the direction the noise had come from, giving up all subtlety in favour of speed. Ignis sighed before he followed, Gladio quickly overtaking him the two of them so he could lead the way. Even his movements had taken on a sense of urgency with the very real threat that one of them was lost forever.

 

Finding Prompto was nothing short of a miracle. The world was so dark that he blended easily into the dirt and leaves surrounding him, even his thick blond hair dyed muddy and undetectable. It was easy to overlook him, easy to see him as nothing, easy to trip over like a fallen log. That was exactly what Noct did.

 

He hit the ground hard, grunting as his legs twisted with what he at first assumed to be loose branches. His hands and knees ached from the impact, just painful enough that he didn’t immediately try to get up. “Watch your feet!” he called out to the others and pushed himself upright. It was only then that he got a good look at the “log”, his light catching what it had missed before. He saw skin and more importantly he saw blood.

 

“Prompto!”

 

He fell to his knees once more, taking hold of one shoulder and rolling his best friend onto his back with Gladio’s help – Ignis had his hands on either side of Prompto’s face to keep his head still, a gesture that had Noct’s stomach twisting with fear. Ignis wouldn’t do that unless he knew something was wrong.

 

“It’s just a precaution, I’m not expecting any spinal or neck injuries. We just have to be certain,” he reassured when Noct’s wide eyes met his. It didn’t do much to settle Noct but rather gave him frightening images of Prompto being just like he was as a kid; carried from bed to chair, pushed around for several months with no time to himself, going through the agony of physical therapy in the desperate hope that he would regain use of his legs. And all of that was if he was even alive.

 

Oh god what if he was dead? What if this was just an empty corpse to be buried, the Prompto they knew long gone? Noct’s fingers fumbled for his wrist – the bare one because he wouldn’t cross the boundaries of those leather straps even now – and he didn’t relax until he felt the steady thump of a pulse. He choked out a breath and kept his hand there, even tightening his grasp. The gesture was met with a choked scream and in a second Prompto was fighting to get away, rolling onto his back of his own accord and kicking out blindly while clutching his arm close. The screams died quickly but were replaced by low, animalistic snarls – but with Noct’s light illuminating his features, it was easy to notice the tear tracks cutting into the mud on his cheeks.

 

“Is he still confused?” Gladio asked Ignis, who had managed to re-trap Prompto’s face between his hands. It was at least a comforting gesture this time, a desperate attempt to make Prompto realise that he was safe.

 

Ignis shook his head once. “Even getting stung as much as he did it should have worn off by now. He’s just afraid.”

 

“Wouldn’t you be if you were left alone in the forest at night?” Noct snapped, unable to do anything but watch as Gladio caught Prompto’s ankles and held them down to stop the kicking. The thrashing continued in his hips and shoulders, back arching as he fought to escape the hands trapping him. His eyes never opened, even for a second.

 

It sickened Noct that Prompto didn’t know what was going on, that he thought he was still in danger despite having them so close. “It’s us, Prom,” Noct said as gently as he could, crawling forwards so that he could take Prompto’s hand – the other one this time. The gesture had the struggles doubling for a second before the howls broke off in favour of weak sobbing. He sounded exhausted, and he probably was. He’d had a tough night.

 

“Open your eyes, Prompto,” Ignis ordered gently. His thumbs drew small circles on Prompto’s cheeks, the gesture so harmless and kind that there was no way the blond could take it as malicious. His worried grimace had softened into a neutral expression.

 

A few seconds passed before Prompto’s eyelids started to flicker and the soft blue of his irises came into view. His eyes didn’t immediately focus on anything and Noct found himself leaning forwards so that he was in Prompto’s line of sight. Ignis obediently sat back but didn’t remove his hands, didn’t slow in his soothing gesture.

 

“Prom?” Noct called anxiously as blue eyes failed to meet his. “You in there, Prom?”

 

His words were met with a low groan before Prompto’s eyes slid shut once more. His breaths slowed as sleep threatened to take him, but suddenly Ignis’s circling became quick pats. “Stay awake until we can get a potion in you. Gladio?”

 

But Gladio was already nudging Noct’s hand aside and replacing it with a potion, which he helped Prompto to tighten his fingers around and then crush. A quick gasp told them all it was already beginning to work. Noct watched as Prompto’s bare wrist shifted unnaturally and realised for the first time that it was broken. He’d touched a broken wrist, squeezed it even. That was why Prompto had reacted the way he had. That was why he’d been so terrified. Because of him.

 

“Shit, I’m so sorry Prom, I didn’t even realise!” he spluttered as the potion continued to work, healing the scrapes on Prompto’s bare palms. From the sigh which slid from between the blond’s parted lips, the pain was going away and then, slowly, his eyes opened once more. He still looked a right mess with all the mud on his clothes and blood on his face but his eyes focused immediately, twitching between the three of them with joy and relief evident. His expression said that he hadn’t heard Noct, maybe hadn’t even realised what had happened.

 

He sat up slowly, Ignis supporting him with a hand between his shoulder blades. “Guys? What happened?” he asked around a yawn. His arms shook minutely with the effort of holding himself upright.

 

Noct exchanged glances with the other two, silently asking how much they should disclose if they wanted to keep Prompto calm and still. They couldn’t have him panicking, not in the dark and not while his body was still in the process of fixing itself. “You uh, got stung by killer bees and took off before we could get to you,” he explained, giving up on any subtlety because he wasn’t about to lie about the situation. He did, however, gloss over some of the finer details, unwilling to relive them so soon.

 

Prompto listened in silence, his eyes going wide with shock as Noct finished. “Guess I kinda scared the shit out of you guys, didn’t I?” he said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck with one trembling hand.

 

“Understatement,” Gladio deadpanned, and the four of them chuckled. It was a good sound, a natural sound, and one Noct was keen to keep around.

 

“Think you can stand?”

 

Prompto nodded and offered each of his friends an exhausted smile. “With a little help.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
